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All “consequences“ of law will follow and the taxman will go after black money hoarders who do not declare their illegal funds before the expiry of a one-time 90-day compliance window' on September 30, the CBDT chief warned on Monday. The CBDT, the apex policymaking body of the income tax department, also made it clear that all anti-harassment and pro-confidentiality procedures have been put in place by it for those people who want to avail this window before the September 30 deadline followed by payment of taxes and penalty before December 31. “Tomorrow, if it is known that there is some wrong or no filing by a person holding black money, then the accountability rests with that person. If you do not use the (one time black money declaration) win dow, then we assume that you deliberately hid your foreign asset. When you avoid law then all consequences of law should follow...,“ CBDT chairperson Anita Kapur told PTI. The top boss of the I-T department said the Board is consta...

Rehabilitation cost per labour is equally borne between the Centre and the state The labour ministry has proposed a massive increase in rehabilitation cost of bonded labourers from Rs.20,000 to up to Rs.3 lakh, a fifteen-fold jump that may cost the government dear but could benefit the BJP-led NDA regime politically as majority of the estimated one million bonded labourers in the country are Dalit farmers. A draft note on the ministry's website for inviting comments said that henceforth the revised scheme will be centrally administered, with rehabilitation package of Rs.1 lakh per adult male beneficiary. Rehabilitation cost per labour under the scheme is equally borne between the Centre and the state and was last revised in 1999. “For special category beneficiaries such as young chil dren, the rehabilitation assistance shall be Rs.2 lakh while for disabled people it will be Rs.3 lakh,“ the note said. ET had last month reported that the govern ment is planning to substantial...

Anti-evasion wing is summoning executives of many cos to check if they have paid service tax Indian tax officials are looking at various business activities undertaken by the local units of multinationals on behalf of their parent companies to ascertain whether services tax was paid on them. Such marketing, sourcing and development exercises have hitherto been regarded as exports and were even liable for tax refunds but with new place of supply rules coming into force, the authorities contend that service tax applies. The anti-evasion wing dealing with indirect taxes has summoned executives of a number of companies across sectors to check on business details and asking if they have paid service tax that could run into hundreds of crores of rupees. Service tax authorities have also issued notices to companies. Officials are looking into transactions by many big names and brands engaged in information technology, IT enabled services, marketing and sourcing, said several people awar...

Co wins contract with a bid of Rs 1,380 cr; GST IT system will provide a standard interface for the taxpayer including registration, filing of returns & more Infosys has secured the high-profile contract to develop and operate the technology platform for the proposed goods and services tax (GST), beating the biggest names in Indian IT and US tech giant Microsoft. “Infosys has bagged the contract...The company will develop the system and operate it for five years,“ Navin Kumar, chairman of the Goods and Services Tax Network, told ET. The GST IT system will provide a standard interface for the taxpayer including registration, filing of returns and payment of tax and a common and shared IT infrastruc ture between the Centre, the states and other bodies such as the Reserve Bank of India. Bengaluru-based Infosys, India's second-largest software exporter, declined to comment on the development. “We are not offering comments as we are yet to receive an official communication...

The Minimum Alternate Tax ( MAT) could be phased out after some years, if and when all corporate tax exemptions and deductions are phased out. This could take at least seven or eight years. If it happens, experts agree, it would reduce tax litigation. A finance ministry official said MAT might become redundant in seven years or more and could be removed. "For now, it will remain in the Income Tax Act, even if it does not affect people. If there are no substantial deductions that reduce the income to below 18.5 per cent, MAT will not be applicable. In seven to 10 years, as MAT becomes redundant, it will be removed," he said. The government is also looking at setting a sunset date for most open- ended tax concession schemes, alongside a five percentage point reduction in the corporate tax rate in four years. The rate is 30 per cent, but is close to 23 per cent, on account of a large number of exemptions and deductions. The revenue forgone in 2012- 13 on account of ded...